SINCE early 2016 when the first ‘shorty’ HYA aggregate hopper was released from WH Davis, Langwith Junction, almost half the fleet of former HYA and IIA coal hoppers has been reduced in length for a new life, purpose-converted for aggregate traffic. While the conversions themselves, all undertaken at Davis, have been broadly uniform, the exterior finish of the rebuilt wagons is not, with only some vehicles repainted, while the fleet sports a plethora of different brandings.
A development of the Thrall Europa HTA hopper for EWS, some 368 wagons were built by International Railway Services (Romania) from 2007-2009, and by WH Davis in the UK from 20092010, for GB Railfreight and Fastline Freight, with many of the British-built GBRf wagons being modified or built from new for biomass traffic.
The collapse of the coal business following the doubling of the UK’s top-up carbon tax in April 2015 had immediate repercussions on rail traffic, with hundreds of coal hoppers sidelined almost overnight. Some of these vehicles were switched to aggregate flows, but as stone is more dense than coal, the wagons could only be partially filled as otherwise they would be too heavy.
Bu hikaye Rail Express dergisinin June 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Rail Express dergisinin June 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
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